The Internet has given rise to opportunities for ready availability of information that was heretofore only available by more cumbersome means such as telephone calls and inquiries presented in person or by written correspondence. Shippers provide package tracking information on web sites; for example, the U.S. Postal Service provides tracking information regarding Express Mail packages on a web site. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office provides trademark status information on a web site called TARR (Trademark Application and Registration Retrieval). The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office provides patent application status information on a web site called PAIR(Patent Application Information Retrieval). The PAIR site is provided with a means for establishing a cryptographically secure communications channel so that third parties are unlikely to be able to intercept the patent application status information electronically.
Unfortunately, many of these web sites have the drawback that it is extremely tedious to check the status of many records. On the web site of the U.S. Postal Service, if it is desired to check the status of several Express Mail packages, the user is forced to hand-type each of the tracking numbers one by one into the server. This not only takes time but also presents the risk that the user may, through inadvertence, type a tracking number incorrectly. A further risk is that the user, checking a list multiple tracking numbers, may forget to check one of the tracking numbers.
Yet a further drawback is that the user is reduced to having to manually (visually) check the present status (as reported on the web site) with the previous status (perhaps reported on a paper printout from a previous status check). This task is tedious, requires awkward paper records, and is error-prone. A human user might not notice that some obscure item of status has changed since the previous status check.
On the TARR web site, the user is likewise forced to type in serial numbers or registration numbers one by one. Each one can be mistyped through inadvertence. Serial numbers or registration numbers can be inadvertently omitted, leading to the unfortunate result that the status is not checked. When status reports are provided by the TARR server, the reports contain lots of information and it is tedious and error-prone to check manually for changes in status from a previous status check.
On the PAIR web site, the user is likewise forced to type in serial numbers or patent numbers one by one. Each one can be mistyped through inadvertence. Serial numbers or patent numbers can be inadvertently omitted, leading to the unfortunate result that the status is not checked. When status reports are provided by the PAIR server, the reports contain lots of information and it is tedious and error-prone to check manually for changes in status from a previous status check. A user may wish to check for new records that are available from the server that match a particular customer number, and this check may result in identifying new records that need status updates. This step is also tedious and risks error, for example if there is new record and if the user fails to notice that a record is new.
All of these steps take a very long time. A U.S. patent law firm with a modest-sized docket (e.g. 200 patent files and 200 trademark files) can spend an entire day trying to obtain status changes on its pending files, and tracking the status of the Express Mail packages which it has sent to the Patent Office.
There is thus a great need for a method and system which avoid tedium, which are not error-prone, and which obtain their results quickly.
A method is described for use with a server serving requested records among a multiplicity of records, and with a predetermined list of record identifiers, and with a first file containing information about records corresponding to the record identifiers. The method comprises the steps of: selecting at least two of the record identifiers from the list; for each one record identifier of the record identifiers: presenting a request to the server with respect to the record identifier; receiving a record from the server, said record corresponding to the record identifier; parsing the record, thereby deriving received information of interest from the record; comparing the received information of interest with corresponding information in the first file; and annunciating any difference between the received information of interest and the corresponding information in the first file.